The announcement was made today by Pablo Pastega, FlixBus’s general manager in Portugal and vice president for Western Europe, during a meeting with journalists in Lisbon.
The German multinational, which entered the Portuguese market in 2017, reported a revenue of 90.6 million euros last year. The estimated losses due to what it describes as an “illegal blockade” to access the Sete Rios terminal, “the largest and most important” in the country, represent almost 15% of this amount.
“This represents a huge economic damage for FlixBus, but it also affects passengers who are forced to travel in less favorable conditions,” stated Pablo Pastega, accusing Rede Expressos (mainly owned by the Barraqueiro group) of maintaining a “monopoly.”
In 2023, FlixBus filed a formal complaint with the Mobility and Transport Authority (AMT) regarding the denial of access to the Sete Rios terminal, managed by Rede Nacional de Expressos. In May of this year, the regulator ruled that access to the facility should be fair and non-discriminatory.
The AMT concluded that “the exhaustion of the terminal’s capacity was not proven, and the existence of available capacity was confirmed.” Therefore, managers should “provide access to the terminal within the available schedules and cannot deny it to any operators requesting access,” noting that noncompliance constitutes infractions.
“While our requests are denied, we notice an increase in services operated by Rede Expressos,” reported FlixBus, citing the terminals in Caldas da Rainha (Leiria district) and Fátima (Santarém) as examples.
The company, which operates in Europe, the United States, and Asia, expressed confusion on why, six months later, the decision has not been effectively enforced, and remarked that “Lisbon is the only European capital where it does not have access to the main terminal of the city.”
“If we have to appeal to the European Commission and the Court of Justice of the European Union to enforce an AMT decision, we will do so, but we would prefer the Portuguese authorities to take action,” emphasized Pablo Pastega.
The company conducted a symbolic action for free mobility this morning in Sete Rios, involving about fifty people dressed and carrying bags in the company’s colors and logos.
By 2026, the company’s plan is to continue expanding and connecting district capitals beyond the Lisbon-Coimbra-Porto corridor, already adding destinations that lacked express service before the market opened to competition at the end of 2019, such as Vila do Conde (Porto) and Mealhada (Aveiro).
A major focus for next year will be in Leiria, which will have a new public terminal, allowing FlixBus to nearly triple its operations in that location.
“With Sete Rios, we have more growth options. Currently, our growth capacity is limited,” emphasized Pablo Pastega.
